Clashing Phases
by P1Bres
Summary: When contacted by Helba, Asahi Kuramochi isn't sure what to think. After all, the Wave he and his friends worked so hard to defeat shouldn't be able to return and be so active, right? Without any other option, however, he and his friends decide to jump back into The World in its second revision to try and find out the truth... [G.U./IMOQ crossover, Gen]
1. Chapter 1

**This was just gonna be a prologue... it really was. But then it got longer and longer and longer and... hoo boy.**

**Anyway, finished slurpin up that IMOQ story, had a fic idea, decided to write the first chapter for it! This is my first time writing the IMOQ characters so... I hope I did alright! There's more to come (obviously), and... yeah!**

**Also, since most characters didn't have names, I gave em some. I tried to make it clear who was who, but to make it clear I'll include a list at the end of names and who they go to. Shoutout to my friend Rachel bc I yoinked a one or two names she uses lol.**

* * *

Asahi Kuramochi tapped his finger against the coffee shop's table, staring out the window with a frown. It'd been forever since he'd last logged into The World, the only real connection he kept to it being the friends he had made. Few of them, if any, still played the game, but the .hackers friendships weren't soon to fade.

In fact, Asahi had went out of his way to try and invite everyone he could to meet up when Sanjuro emailed him saying he was planning on visiting Japan again. It would be nice for all of them to meet at once, share stories and laughs… But then he'd gotten another email, just a few days away from the planned event.

An email from Helba.

Helba, the only person he had no clue about in the real world. Not a name, an age, or even a gender… She was the one he heard from the least, practically disappearing once Asahi had stopped playing The World. It had been hard not to be shocked when her name appeared in his email list.

And the email from the hacker didn't help the shock any, either. As calm as Helba's email sounded, the anxiety that surrounded the idea of the Phases not being as gone as Asahi and the others had thought was great. And that was indeed what the email contained.

The data was still there, even active when Helba had decided to look into The World again, the email had stated. It was something that would be worth looking into, she had claimed, leaving a list of tasks she was asking Asahi to take care of.

He'd found himself hovering his hands over the keyboard for a while, thoughts rushing through his head, before he agreed to doing what was listed. The phases had been dangerous, Asahi had gone against each of them at one point, and it couldn't simply be ignored…

And so he'd followed Helba's instruction list to a tee. Going to a specific location at a specific time where a person he didn't quite see the face of (were they Helba, he had wondered for a moment, though it was just a possible it was someone else) handed him files. He'd glanced them over, as Helba had said he was free to do.

They were small files, covering the information Helba was able to pull out of The World about player characters that seemed to have some link or another to the Wave's activity within R:2. Seeing names like Piros and Natsume among them had worried him, but that would be something to deal with today.

He looked down at the files, piled in front of him. The next piece of the email had told him to read it aloud to the others when he was able to get them all sitting around him. It would explain what was happening and instruct the others to help Asahi try and speak to all these people, see if they could glean anything about the activity from them.

Asahi was sure they'd be willing to help, but he felt bad about dropping this all onto them when they were supposed to be meeting to have some fun.

"This is just unfair…" Things had been so calm, past the wave of anxiety that had crashed over him at the news of a possible third Network Crisis, and this? This was somehow much much worse. Like everything they had done was for nothing…

"Kite…?" A soft voice made him turn to look at the owner of the voice. "Ah, I mean… Asahi…"

Kaoru Ichinose, the player behind Elk, seemed to be the first one to make it there. He looked healthier than the last time Asahi had seen him, shortly after a fire had destroyed R:1. He hadn't been doing amazingly then, so it was nice to see the change.

"Nice to see you again, Kaoru." He smiled and pat the seat next to him. "Take a seat!"

Kaoru nodded, sliding into a seat near Asahi, at the small table next to the one he sat at that could hold six. "It's nice to see you again, as well… Are you feeling alright?"

"I'm fine!" Asahi gave him a somewhat forced smile. "Don't worry about it, there's just some… stuff I need to talk about when everyone gets here."

"...I see." He nodded, arms crossed. "I wonder when everyone else will make it…"

"Hopefully soon…" He tapped his finger against the table again. "I don't wanna start worrying that someone won't make it."

"Well… a few are coming this way at the moment." Kaoru pointed towards Reiko Honda, the player behind Rachel and Nuke Usagimaru, who still insisted his PC name was his real name as well. Asahi wasn't quite sure he believed it, but it wasn't worth worry about.

"Hey there, Asahi!" Reiko gave a nod as she slipped into a seat at yet another smaller table, Nuke sitting next to her. "I was afraid we weren't gonna make it in time, but it looks like we're early."

"Did you think you'd be late?" Asahi tilted his head to the side.

"This guy over here is startin' to get real popular with some people and can't keep himself from crackin' jokes." Reiko gestured towards Nuke. "I had to drag him here."

"I'm not that bad!" Nuke shook his head. "And Nuke Usagimaru can't just leave a fan hanging when they want to talk!"

Reiko gave him a look. "When you got plans, yes you can."

"Come on now you guys, no reason to argue…" Asahi held up a hand and gave an awkward laugh. "I'm just glad you guys made it early if that's the case!"

"See, Asahi gets it." Nuke frowned at Reiko. "You should be more understanding."

"Oh come on, you-"

"I walk up and all I hear is arguing!" Akira Hayami, who had been Asahi's partner when they used their Kite and BlackRose PCs, approached, hand on her head. "I forgot things could get like this around you, Asahi…"

"Akira…!" He waved as she moved to sit right across from him. "Glad you could make it."

Her face went pink as she looked away. "W… well it's not like I could ignore a chance to hang out with you and everyone else…!"

"I'm really glad to hear that." He smiled at her, eyes closing for a moment. Seeing someone who'd been by his side through most of the events made him feel a little less nervous about dropping what Helba had told him onto them…

The only people who could make it even better with Akira already here would be…

"There you are, Asahi!" He opened his eyes and the smile became a grin at the sound of his friend's voice.

There they were, Yasuhiko Shimizu and Sora Amano, Orca of the Azure Sky and Balmung of the Azure Skies, showing up together. Those guys, along with Akira, always made him feel just a little safer…

"Yasuhiko, Sora!" He smiled at them as they slid into the seats on either side of him, Yasuhiko closer to Kaoru and Sora closer to Reiko. "I'm glad you guys could make it!"

"Yeah, I'm glad too… I had to call Sora for a ride, I woke up so late…" Yasuhiko sighed, shaking his head. "I'm never riding on a motorcycle again!"

"Was it that bad…?" Sora frowned, arms crossed in confusion. "Asahi enjoyed it when I took him on rides."

"Yasuhiko might be more of a scaredy-cat than me when it comes to things like that." Asahi half-whispered, half-spoke, shooting his best friend a grin as he spoke to Sora.

"Hey…!"

"Come on, I'm just joking Yasuhiko!" Asahi continued to grin as he turned to him.

"Wow! I didn't realize Asahi teased his friends like that in real life, too!" The voice of Mayumi Kurokawa, who Asahi better remembered as Mistral, hit his ears as the woman slid into a chair across from Sora.

With her was Takumi Hino, always shocking to see, sliding into the chair across from Yasuhiko. Asahi wondered if Takumi would ever not be a shock… Maybe when he was as old and wrinkled as his player character Wiseman had been… He hadn't known what to think when he first learned the teenager was ten way back when, and it was still not sitting quite right.

"Would it not make sense for Asahi to interact with the real world the same way he did with online games, then?" He spoke up, looking at Mayumi with his head tilted slightly to the side. "People like Asahi are usually more in-tune with his online persona than most, after all."

"I'm not sure if that's a compliment or not…" Asahi scratched his cheek and laughed a bit. That was to be expected with Takumi, he supposed.

"Take it how you'd like…" Takumi looked Asahi over, eyes resting on the files in front of him. "What are those?"

"Ohhhh!" Mayumi noticed them as well, leaning over the table to try and get a better look. "Can I see?"

"N… not yet! I'll tell everyone what they are in a minute… After everyone else gets here." He slapped his hands over them with a nervous laugh. "Shouldn't be long now… I-in fact, there's Ryoko now!"

Indeed, there was Ryoko Terajima, looking quite wide-eyed at everything. If Asahi had to guess, she was probably still pretty new to the world. Seeing as how overly protective her father had sounded from her emails back in 2010 and from the one (terrifying) meeting he'd had with him… Asahi wasn't that surprised.

"Oh, hello, everyone." She approached and gave a small bow before sliding into a seat at the table where Reiko and Nuke sat. "I'm sorry for not getting here earlier, I was lost…"

"It's not like you're that late, so don't worry about it." Akira shook her head, waving a hand in the air. "There's still some others who aren't here yet… Like Natsume and Moonstone."

"Yeah, Akira's right." He gave Ryoko a smile. "You're not late or anything if everyone else isn't here yet, so don't worry about it."

Ryoko returned his smile, looking between him and Akira. "Thank you… I've never been in a coffee shop like this before, so I was afraid I was still lost…"

People who grew up rich could be really sheltered, huh? Asahi felt especially bad about pulling her and Takumi into this… One was so young and the other so naive to the world… But no! He needed to stick with this now. Takumi and Mayumi had noticed the files, after all, there was no way out of it.

"Well, this is a normal old coffee shop… So now you know if anyone invites you out to one in the future!" He gave a laugh as he scratched his cheek.

"Oh…! That's true." She nodded, pleased with the information. "Maybe eventually I'll be able to navigate streets without getting lost or confused by the buildings…"

_Good luck, Ryoko…_

Before anyone had much of a chance to say anything else, the door opened and loud footsteps alerted everyone to the arrival of Hiroshi Matsuyama, the player behind Piros. Behind him, surprisingly, was Natsume Oguro. Did the two of them hang out a lot…? That made the files with the PC names nearly identical to their old ones even more worrying...

"Hello everyone." Natsume gave a small wave and smile before sitting across from Kaoru while Hiroshi moved to sit next to her.

"He of fair eyes! Everyone! It's so wonderful to see you all!" Hiroshi's voice was as loud and boisterous as ever. A reminder as to why Asahi usually liked to meet him in places that weren't as quiet as small little coffee shops like this.

"It looks like we're towards the end of everyone showing up, huh…" Natsume looked around, scratching her cheek. "I wasn't expecting to be so late."

"Perhaps today would have been the day for your stalking, if you wanted to be sooner." Hiroshi shrugged. "I couldn't have made it earlier, as I do have a child to take care of at home!"

"I've told you before, I've never stalked anyone!" Natsume frowned at him. "First you go telling that boy that and now you say it in front of anyone… Really, you need to think about what you say more!"

Asahi blinked a few times. "Stalking…? That makes no sense." Natsume didn't seem like a stalker, if he was being honest. And he happened to run into her and have chats with her often enough that he couldn't see her as having time for stalking!

Hiroshi just gave him a sympathetic look at that. "Oh, he of fair eyes…"

"W...what?" Asahi frowned, he didn't get it…

"There you all are!" Yuu Matsuoka, who still registered as just Marlo sometimes when Asahi only heard his voice, approached and threw himself into the seat next to Kaoru, who was now staring at his phone and typing away at what seemed to be an email. "Can you guys stick out anymore?"

"I don't think we could when Piros is already here!" Mayumi let out a giggle as she turned to look at the other table. "I mean- Oh! Moonstone!"

There was Kenta Yamamoto, just as quiet as his online persona of Moonstone, sitting next to Ryoko. Had he come in when Marlo had or had he gotten there before? It was honestly hard for Asahi to tell.

"Glad you two could make it." He smiled, turning his head to look between both of them. "I'll be honest, you two were some of the ones I was most worried about having to cancel…"

Yuu frowned at him. "What's that supposed to mean?"

"Nothing bad!" Asahi shook his head. "I just know you two are really busy…" And also a bit grumpy in Yuu's case…

"Mmm…" Kenta nodded, arms crossed. "Had to… fit my training in on the way here…"

"Glad you could do it…" Man, Asahi was starting to remember how odd some of his .hacker friends could be.

Speaking of odd, the next to arrive seemed to be Kyoko Fujioka. She looked at the group, giving a short wave in reply to Asahi's, before walking over to a table where three women were sitting, an extra chair empty.

"Let me borrow this chair." She spoke so frankly and the women merely nodded, one of them even blushing. He guessed Gardenia wasn't the only one who charmed women, huh…? "Thanks."

She dragged the chair up to the side of the table Natsume and company had settled down at, arms crossed as she sat. "Are we missing anyone?"

"Yeah… Sanjuro still isn't here." Akira sat back in her chair with a sigh. "And he's the reason we all decided to get together! I hope his plane wasn't delayed or something…"

"I'm sure he'll be here soon enough…" At least, Asahi hoped. He could see the way Takumi was eyeing the files and really didn't want to risk the teen getting curious enough to try and grab them right out from under him…

Please let the last one of them get here soon…

As if his silent plea was heard, in walked Jason Parker, also known as Sanjuro from The World. It was always interesting seeing him walk into a room filled with non-Americans, Asahi had to think. He really did stand out as he dragged a chair from an empty table over to where Ryoko and company sat in order to make room for himself.

"Sorry I was so late. I thought my luggage had been lost…" He let out a sigh, hand on his head. "Lucky for me, it just got mixed up with someone else's…"

"Well, that's good! I'm glad you didn't lose everything." Asahi gave him a smile.

"That is good, though if anything was lost, please tell me and I should be able to ask my father to lend you enough money to buy replacements for during your vacation." Ryoko spoke up, clearly trying to be helpful.

"N… no, it's fine. It's all there." Too bad Jason had heard from Asahi about just how scary Ryoko's father could be.

"So! The celebration can begin, right?" Akira stretched her hands above her head with a smile. "We just all need to, uh, go order coffee… Guess we should've all done that when we walked in."

"Well, actually…" Asahi swallowed hard. "Maybe we should get coffee after I explain the files and what they're for."

"I agree, I'm quite curious…" Takumi looked at him. "Please, go ahead."

"Alright, well…" Asahi pulled out his phone, pulling up the email from Helba. "Helba emailed me and asked me to fill you all in on what's going on with these files and with The World…"

Everyone seemed interested then, leaning a bit closer as Asahi scrolled down to the message from Helba. After one more glance around the room, he began reading the message from her to everyone else.

"Greetings, everyone. I'm sure you're wondering why you're hearing from me for the first time in so long. I've sent each of you small emails in regards to today, though this message through Kite is to ensure you all know the full story." He looked around, everyone still listening intently. Alright…

"Upon looking into the game we all know as The World after many of us have long moved on to other prospects, I have discovered something unnerving. It seems the Wave is not only not destroyed, but active. On a level nowhere near as safe as when the player character Mia was recovered."

"Mia…" Kaoru held a hand to his chest at the name, though otherwise didn't seem too affected. Asahi figured it was because of how important Mia was to him, but who knew…

"Please, continue." Takumi looked at him, nearly unfazed compared to everyone else at the table, almost as if he was expecting it. "I would like to hear the rest of her message."

Asahi nodded before continuing. "I was able to pull some data on PCs that may or may not have information on why the Cursed Wave is so active, despite our efforts. While I will continue to do what I can on my end, I had a feeling this would interest many, if not all of you. I have left almost all the files worth anything with Kite, who I am entrusting to hand out to all of you, should you be interested in hunting down the PCs to speak with them…"

"The Wave… isn't as gone as we thought…" Akira sat back in her seat, trying to come to grips with the situation as she stared at the cieling. "Could that be why there was all that news about people falling into comas while playing online games recently…?"

"It seems likely to me…" Yasuhiko shuddered. "Just thinking about something like that happening again… I need to help do something about it."

"As do I." Sora nodded. "We can't ignore this!"

Everyone else made noises of agreement, save Kaoru and Takumi. Asahi was about to worry when Takumi finally spoke up. "This should be interesting… Give me a file."

"Well…" Asahi looked at where he was sitting. "Um… Actually, I think it might be easier if everyone just randomly comes and grabs one. We can always switch them around after that and I can read the last bit of email from Helba…"

With that, he moved the files away from him and spread them on the table. As everyone (even Kaoru, who hadn't noted that he wanted to help yet) began reaching for them, Asahi grabbed one as well and opened it up.

_Haseo… Former PKK known as the Terror of Death._

Well that left a sour taste in his mouth… But he guessed it was better he got someone like this than Yasuhiko. He didn't suspect seeing the title that they associated with Skeith would be very good for his friend.

When everyone had a file, three remained. Asahi frowned, would he need to handle these as well-

"Um… There seems to be an issue." Piros spoke up, holding out the file for the character "Natsume". "Could I not just ask her whatever needs to be asked now?"

"I could do the same with mine…" Natsume seemed to have the Piros the 3rd file. "I don't think either of us would be against telling you and Helba what she needs."

"O-oh…! Then you guys can probably do that, uh…" He grabbed two random files and passed them their way. "Take care of these instead, then?"

That still left one extra… Which Takumi grabbed. "If you don't mind, I have plenty of time to do things like play The World, so I'll be taking an extra one."

"Yeah, that's fine…"

He nodded and everyone began looking over their files with mumbles and 'ahs', a few of them passing and trading them around. A few of them refusing to do so, as they seemed to think they could handle who they had well…

"So, the rest of the email…" Akira looked at him after a moment. "What does it say?"

"Oh, yeah…" Asahi returned his attention to his phone. "Those who agree and take a file or two will be noted by Asahi. Once I know who will be assisting in this task, I will send you emails detailing what I need from you, as well as gifts to make accessing The World possible."

"So you can just say it's all of us, right?" Rachel looked at her file again. "Do you need to include who we're gonna be askin' questions or does that not matter?"

"I'm… Not sure, actually." Asahi opened a note app on his phone. "So maybe I should write it all down."

"Well… Akira showed her file to him. "I guess I'm looking for a PC named Atoli."

"Oh, huh. I'm looking for one named Shino and it looks like they have the same model…" Yasuhiko blinked a few times, looking between Akira's file and his own. "What a coincidence that two people with the same model might know what's going on…"

"That is odd…" But Asahi guessed not out of the question. For now, he'd just type down the names and worry about any oddities later.

"As for me, I have a PC called Aina…" Sora seemed to be reading over his file intently. "Such an odd hiatus…"

"I have someone named Sakubo!" Mayumi tilted her head to the side as she read the file. "...Some of the stuff about them is kinda odd, though…"

"Oh!" Hiroshi laughed. "I know this Kuhn through the boy with good eyes! This task will be simple!"

Asahi nodded, typing them down quickly. Everyone else was still looking at their files so he was expecting it to take a moment when Kaoru finally spoke up.

"Uh… I have Endrance…" He seemed to be typing away at another email.

...And as he seemed to press send, Takumi's phone went off. He glanced at Asahi and Kaoru as he checked it. "I have the PCs known as Yata and Pi."

Asahi noticed the smile on his face as he sent a reply to what he'd just gotten. Was it an email from Kaoru…? If it was, why didn't they just talk about whatever they needed to talk about right here and now? It didn't make sense and it didn't sit well with him…

Natsume spoke up next, with a small gasp. "Oh! Alkaid, isn't she a former Demon Palace Emperor…? I should be able to find her…"

"This PC Gaspard seems like he might be harder to find, but I'll do my best…" Jason flipped through the file. "So short, I hope I don't run right over him…"

"Bordeaux… This says she's a PK… I suppose it shouldn't be too hard to hunt someone like that down." Kyoko closed her file, looking towards the coffee line. Looked like she was ready to move on until Helba emailed her…

Kenta grunted. "Matsu… Former PK…"

"Alright… These sound like quite the range of types…" Asahi was sorta confused. What all did they have in common that led Helba to thinking they might have knowledge about the Phases?

"I got some old man-looking PC, Antares…" Reiko looked at Takumi. "Wonder if he'll be ten, too."

"And I got a Kaede…" Nuke squinted at the page. "Something about a Moon Tree…?"

"Tabby…" Yuu was clearly not pleased with what he'd gotten in the draw of the files. "She looks like she's gonna be a headache…"

"And I have a…" Ryoko looked closely at the file. "Silabus. He's apparently very helpful to noobs…"

"Alright." Asahi added the file pair to the list and put his phone back into his pocket. "Now… let's actually get some coffee, yeah?"

* * *

**List of the names I decided, either with the help of ideas on the wiki, ideas from pals, or that I slapped out on paper myself:**

**Kite - Asahi Kuramochi**  
**Balmung - Sora Amano**  
**Orca - Yasuhiko Shimizu (clearly only the last name, but thought I should include it)**  
**Sanjuro - Jason Parker**  
**Gardenia - Kyoko Fujioka**  
**Moonstone - Kenta Yamamoto**  
**Rachel - Reiko Honda**  
**Marlo - Yuu Matsuoka**


	2. Chapter 2

**This got longer than I was expecting, lord help me...**

**Anyway, G.U. characters time!**

* * *

Haseo felt totally lethargic when he logged into The World, shortly after completing the Forest of Pain. He'd been pulling a few all-nighters, thinking about what to do about Ovan. He was sure he was alive, but… How did he get him to wake up?

He didn't know and he needed to try and relax before throwing himself into it. What better way than playing The World for a while? Everyone on his friend's list seemed to be online, too, so he had a bunch of choices for people to spend time with… Who to invite…?

"Ah…" A familiar groan made him jump and he turned to see Azure Kite, standing by the Chaos Gate.

"You need something…?"

"Need to… talk…" His voice was raspy as he stared Haseo down. "Something wrong…"

That was… Worrying to hear from someone like Azure Kite, honestly. If someone who cleaned up the system and went after things like AIDA said something was wrong, there was reason to listen as soon as possible.

"Let's go to Delta Forbidden Hidden Holy Ground, then…" He turned towards the Chaos Gate. "We can talk-"

"Excuse me!" A voice pulled him out of his thoughts and… Holy _shit._ A Twin Blade that looked like Azure Kite, but less zombie-like? And with the name Kite? He couldn't help but panic at the thought of the guy and the Azure Knight seeing each other, so…

He grabbed the AI and pulled him into his chest as he continued to look at Kite. "What do you need?"

"You're Haseo, right?" The guy smiled at him. "I can see you're busy with a friend, but I just have a few questions for you."

"Yeah? Uh, then go ahead and ask away." He ignored Azure Kite's angry grunts, giving an awkward smile.

"Well… I heard that you used to be a PKK… The Terror of Death, right?" Kite tilted his head to the side. "I hate to pry, but, uh, do you happen to know where else that name has been used?"

"Well…" Skeith, the Epitaph of The Terror of Death… Though Haseo was sure letting that information slip willy nilly was stupid, lest they wanted to risk another Sakaki. "Not really, no."

Another grunt from Azure Kite and Haseo did his best to pat the AI awkwardly on the back. He didn't know why he was getting so upset about this all. He knew they had something important to talk about, but no reason to get _this_ mad.

"Then I'm guessing you don't know the name Skeith?" Kite's head was still tilted as he asked the question.

"Y...you're right, no clue. What language is that? Scottish?"

Kite frowned. "I see… I guess I couldn't expect you to know just because of your PKK nickname…"

"Sorry if it was something important to you." But not really. Haseo couldn't help but feel a bit weird about this all.

Someone asking him about Skeith and his PKK nickname, Azure Kite being so upset, said someone looking _like_ Azure Kite… It all just wasn't sitting well for Haseo. He wanted to end this conversation as soon as possible…

Thankfully (or maybe not), Azure Kite was fed up with this all and, before Haseo knew it, they were both teleporting to another area. It wasn't the Hulle Granz Cathedral like Haseo had suggested, instead a random Area. One that would be hard for that Kite guy to replicate if he wanted to come after them.

"So…" Haseo pulled himself away from Azure Kite. "Sorry about that. What's wrong?"

Azure Kite seemed uncomfortable as he looked at Haseo. "...Hacker. Not like… the Phases… Looking for you…"

Well, that did sound bad. Shit.

**XXX**

Aina missed her brother. When she was comatose, at least she had a connection to him, through that AIDA in his arm… But now that was gone, and Masato wasn't waking up in the real world… She'd been awoken from her coma, but now he was in one.

She didn't like it.

It made The World feel so much lonelier… The only reason she even played anymore was to ask Shino about her brother's condition. Well, that and those strange knights of Aura. Ever since the Ultimate AI had spoken through her, they had taken an interest in her and would sometimes spend time with her.

...When not dealing with issues in The World or spending time around Haseo, of course.

Right now, in fact, Azure Balmung was sitting with her in an Area. It had pretty flowers, ones Aina could pick and piece together into a flower crown. She knew it would disappear, the flower field resetting as soon as she left, but that was fine. She placed the finished crown on the Azure Knight's head while he watched her curiously (at least, she was pretty sure he was watching her, it was hard to tell when his hair covered his eyes).

"We should go back, soon. The doctors will want me to stop playing before the end of the hour…" Aina stood, brushing off her dress. Azure Balmung stood as well… But he froze, angry noises akin to a growl escaping his throat.

Before Aina could ask what was wrong, Azure Balmung moved to hide behind the pillars next to the Beast Temple and a man who looked an awful lot like him approached. That was odd… She didn't think someone who looked like Azure Balmung would be playing the game.

"Do you need something?" She looked up at him. "The Beast Statue is in that temple, if you're lost."

"Ah, no, that's not it." He shook his head. "I actually have some questions for you, if you don't mind."

She looked him over. A Blade Brandier, PC name Balmung. How odd… She glanced towards the AI, still hiding and still looking awfully upset. She wondered if she should say yes, but… Well, she guessed it couldn't hurt.

"What is it?" She turned back to him. "I don't have much time before I'll have to log off, so please ask quickly."

"Ah, yes, of course." He nodded, clearing his throat. "Have you ever heard of the Eight Phases of Morganna?"

Aina bit her lower lip, almost hard enough to make it bleed, at the question. "... Yes."

"What do you know about them? Or do you only know of the name?"

She looked at her feet, gripping the front of her dress. "Those Phases are the reason I can't be with my brother anymore…"

Balmung knelt in order to be eye level with Aina. "What? What happened to your brother?"

"He-"

The sound of a Lucky Animal being punted right behind them made Aina pause and made Balmung turn away. "What the…?!"

Before Aina could say anything, it became clear that it was Azure Balmung who had kicked it, using the moment Balmung looked away to run past Aina towards the Chaos Gate. Without thinking about it, she stood and followed after him, portaling out right after despite Balmung's calls for her to wait. She wanted to know what had made the AI run off…

**XXX**

Shino stared up at the empty altar in the Hulle Granz Catherdral, eyes closed and hands behind her back. She hadn't been awake for long and now she was already back in the hospital… Not for herself, no. She was taking care of Ovan, Masato Indou, as he laid comatose himself.

It was almost funny, in a way. Ovan was the one to send her to the hospital both times… Though she supposed this time she didn't have to… But someone had to take care of him, for Aina, and she would be that person.

It didn't mean she spent all her time there, though. She'd already spent so much of her life there she needed time away, after all. And a lot of the time, she found herself in The World. She'd missed out on a lot of time to spend with people like Haseo and Tabby, forced to only watch through the AIDA in Ovan's arm, and it was time to make up for that…

Though it was also nice to come to Lost Grounds like this, spend some time alone and think. Despite all that had happened here, she couldn't help but come back time and time again… She let her eyes close, a smile coming to her lips… When the door creaked open.

Standing there was a man, his screen name displaying as Orca and his class Blade Brandier. Wasn't that one of those pursuers…? No, that wasn't quite right. This man looked much too normal, despite the similarities…

"Hello." She finally smiled at him, a head nod towards him. "Don't mind me, I'll be leaving soon."

"Actually… You're Shino the Harvest Cleric, right?" He rubbed the back of his neck. "I wanted to talk to you."

"Oh?" She tilted her head to the side. "What do you need?" Maybe this was about the long disbanded Twilight Brigade, or her disappearance from The World for six months…

"Well, uh, I've heard you stopped playing for half a year and suddenly came back…" He approached, awkward in his stance. She'd called that, huh...? "That's quite a long time to take a break…"

"You want to know why I wasn't playing then?" A lot of people who'd seen her or talked to her before her coma wanted to know. "I'm afraid to say, but that's a bit personal."

"O-oh!" He looked towards the altar as well, embarrassed. "Sorry! I understand that, I was the same way when I started playing R:1 again after my…"

She looked at him as he trailed off. "After your…?"

"...Coma."

She gave him another smile. "I guess we have something in common, if that's the case."

He looked at her, wide-eyed and sputtering, as if trying to figure out how to word what he wanted to say next. So distracted he didn't notice the blue flame that began floating behind his head. All Shino could think about was that pursuer that looked like this man…

She grabbed him by the hands. "I'm sorry, but if you'd like to talk more, I think we should go somewhere else." And she started dragging him towards the door, making eye contact with Azure Orca as he fully manifested in the Cathedral.

"H-huh?!"

"This is where I fell comatose… If we continue with this conversation, I think it'd be better to do it somewhere with less… heavy memories! Don't you agree?" She kept glancing back at the Azure Knight, staring after them.

She could almost feel his anger, even as they moved closer and closer to the door.

"U-uh, yeah! Of course!"

Shino spared only one more look at Azure Orca before pulling Orca out the door and back towards Mac Anu.

**XXX**

Atoli sat on the ground of Breg Epona with a sigh. She had wanted to ask Haseo to accompany her to an Area, but when she looked at her friend's list, he came up as busy. That happened more often than she would like to admit these days...

She guessed that was to be expected, though. Haseo had a lot of friends, after all! He had to spend some time with all of them…

They just hadn't had much time to spend together the entire month and it was starting to sting a little. Maybe she would invite Silabus or Gaspard to go adventuring with her instead… "But there's so many armored enemies in the Area… No Edge Punisher or an Adept Rogue that chose that job will make it so difficult…"

"Need some help with an Area?" A friendly voice made Atoli look up, blinking a few times.

Standing there was a woman, BlackRose… Who just so happened to be an Edge Punisher, according to Atoli's screen. She stumbled to her feet, giving a smile. She hadn't been expecting someone to overhear her talking to herself!

"O-oh, I was just talking to myself! I wouldn't want to bother a stranger!" She shook her head. "I'll just have to wait until my friend is free, is all…"

"Oh come on!" BlackRose shook her head. "It wouldn't be a bother! I'm not playing with anyone, anyway."

"B… but…" She would still feel bad…

"Don't worry about it, really!" She shook her head. "If it'll make you feel better… I've been wanting to ask around about a few things. While we're going through the Area, you can answer a few of my questions to make it even!"

Atoli thought for a moment. That would about make them even, right…? And BlackRose seemed to really want to go with her… It wouldn't hurt to make more friends and spread a positive message to them, either.

"Okay!" She smiled and nodded, sharing her member address. "Feel free to invite me and then we can be on our way. I've prepared plenty of items for adventuring, so unless you need to stock up on something we can head right to the Chaos Gate."

BlackRose sent the invite and Atoli quickly accepted it. "I'm good to go, so just lead the way!"

Atoli nodded and headed for the Chaos Gate, BlackRose following after her. Without much pause, she entered the correct words and they were in the Area. It was a field, nice and sunny. It was a fight the boss level, so it shouldn't be too hard…

"So…" She turned towards BlackRose with a smile. "What questions would you like to ask while we start on our adventure?"

"Well…" BlackRose scratched her cheek. "I guess I'll start with this... Do you know what the Cursed Wave is?"

"The Cursed Wave…?" Atoli was starting to get the feeling these questions wouldn't exactly be the normal kind of questions players asked.

**XXX**

Bo made his way down the street of Dol Dona, trying to no avail to find an item he wanted to buy for Haseo. He needed to hurry, too…! Saku wanted to find a present for Endrance today and he didn't want to keep her waiting too long…

"Oh no… I thought this Guild Shop would still have it…" It wasn't often you'd find really rare heavy armor like that… He should've saved up his money sooner…

"Are you okay?" A voice nearly made him jump out of his skin as he turned to look at the source.

A small PC, called Mistral, was standing there smiling at him, head tilted to the side. "Uh… I'm okay, I just missed out on buying an item for someone…"

"Awww!" She frowned, arms crossed. "That's no good! What item was it? Maybe we can find who bought it and trade for it!"

"O… oh no! If someone bought it, they probably want it, right? I would feel bad trying to get it from them…" Bo kicked at the ground with a frown. "I'll just find another present…"

"Are you sure?"

He nodded. "Yes…"

"Fine…" Mistral crossed her arms, humming. "...Then I'll help you find a different present for the person, okay? What's the occasion?"

"Um… This person has done a lot for me, so I wanted to thank him with a present…" He poked his fingers together, feeling a bit embarrassed to just be sharing this so frankly. "I know it's silly, but…"

"Silly?" Mistral tilted her head to the side. "It sounds lovely! Let's go and look!" She grabbed him by the hand and started leading him.

"U-uh…!" He followed after her, stumbling a bit. "Thank you very much…!"

"It's no problem! To be honest, I needed to talk to you anyway, and if I'm gonna be asking you for help, it'd be a fair trade if I help you too!"

"O-oh?" He frowned. "What do you need?"

Mistral stopped for a moment, humming and tapping her chin. "Well… I was asked to ask you a few questions! About stuff from R:1, that I was involved with."

"Oh, okay… But I probably won't know anything." Bo felt bad about that. "I'm only eleven, so…"

"That's fine!" She started pulling Bo along again. "If you don't have a clue about my questions, just tell me that and we'll move on, okay?"

"Okay!" He nodded, he could do that…!

"So, first question! Have you heard anything about the game being weird…?"

"Oh, like those black orbs?" He knew those were AIDA, but he didn't want to scare he if she didn't know about it… He needed to be careful about what he said.

"Black orbs?" She stopped again, looking back at him curiously. "Tell me more!"

"W-well…"

**XXX**

"You!" Kuhn froze when a voice called out to him. He knew that voice… Piros the 3rd, who Haseo sometimes brought along when he and Kuhn hung out. What did he need…?

"Something up?" He looked at him, rubbing the back of his neck. Thank goodness he hadn't met up with any ladies yet…

"I need to speak to you on the recent events of The World. Such as the rumors of coma victims and that dastardly Tri-Edge!" He placed a hand on Kuhn's shoulder. "You and the boy with the good eyes are close, no? I'm sure you'll have some good answers!"

Well… Shit. "I… I dunno what you mean, haha… I don't think I've heard anything about coma rumors or anything!"

Piros the 3rd narrowed his eyes, leaning closer to Kuhn with him arms crossed. "Hmmm… Then what of Tri-Edge? Have you heard anything about him?"

"Maybe a thing or two…" He scratched his cheek, trying to think of a way out of this. Was there a quick and non-suspicious escape anywhere around here…?

"Then please, tell me what you know!" Piros the 3rd nodded. "Especially if any of it is in link with that dastardly Wave!"

"The Wave?!" He spluttered, taking a step back. How would anyone be able to guess that the Phases of Morganna did in fact have something to do with the true Tri-Edge?

"Aha, so you do know something about it!" He grinned at Kuhn, clearly excited. Kuhn needed to misdirect him… And quick.

"W… well of course I've heard of the Wave! I was put into a coma in R:1 because of one of the weird monsters from it! I helped against Corbenik and everything!" He gave an awkward laugh. "I was just shocked to hear it brought up with Tri-Edge. I didn't hear anything about it in relation to him!"

"Hm… I see…" Piros the 3rd stroked his chin in thought. "That's too bad… I suppose, however, you should still tell me about Tri-Edge and what you know of him! This information is for a very important investigation!"

"Is that investigation because of what Tri-Edge has done to the graphics?" He rose an eyebrow. Haseo had mentioned how ridiculous Piros the 3rd had been about Tri-Edge because of that, so he was assuming that was it.

He let out a laugh, shaking his head. "Oh, no no no… That's not it this time! While I would still love to give him a piece of my mind over the horrible things he's done to this game's beautiful textures, this is a different investigation completely!"

Well… That wasn't what he was expecting and was, in fact, kinda worrying. "Alright, what I know about Tri-Edge…"

He'd try and squeeze some more context out of Piros the 3rd as he answered his questions, then.

**XXX**

Yata was curious to see how Helba and the others planned on handling the apparent issue they had with the Phases. He never would have thought Helba would peek back into the game and discover that…

But here it was, and he had of course agreed to help. If only to ensure nothing became too messy for those involved. The World had just been at risk thanks to AIDA and Cubia, he wasn't keen on letting a risk like that happen again so soon.

The emails on what Helba wanted everyone to question had been simple. A list of things to talk about, in whatever order they all deemed best for who they were dealing with. The Wave, Cubia if they happened to show knowledge on it, strange bugs and glitches, the comas, and Tri-Edge…

It would take a lot for Yata to not tell Helba that Tri-Edge was gone and, well, good riddance. If he never had to see Ovan again it would be too soon.

For now, though, that wasn't the issue. The issue was ensuring suspicion was kept off not only him, but the other "insider" among the group, so to speak. After all, Endrance wouldn't want to sell out himself or Haseo.

He'd told Endrance to invite Pi and himself into a party, as well as forward the character data that Helba sent to allow him to access The World. Once the three of them were in an Area, Yata had removed his M2D long enough to login in both the Wiseman and Elk characters on separate PCs and lead them to the same Area. As long as it seemed they were discussing things, he should be able to get to business.

"Master Yata…" Pi looked at him with a frown as Wiseman and Elk went inactive and Yata returned to his current PC. "What's going on?"

"I'm sure you know about the .hackers, Pi…" He fixed his glasses as he gestured to himself and Endrance. "We're two of them… And we were recently in contact with the others."

"Helba noticed the Phases being active… Everyone thinks it's dangerous…" Endrance crossed his arms, looking at the ground. "They have a list of PCs they think are involved."

"...I'm assuming that includes the three of us?" She furrowed her brow. "Does this Helba know that you two have these characters?"

Yata shook his head. "As far as I know, she has no clue. That's why I agreed to help, it allows me to keep an ear to the ground."

"I see…" Pi sighed. "Then it's a case of keeping as much information from this as possible?"

"For now, yes." Yata nodded.

"Kite is understanding…" Endrance spoke up again. "He helped me save Mia… If we have enough time, we may be able to convince him that the Phases are no longer a threat…"

"Would that do much, though?" Pi furrowed her brow. "That's one out of many .hackers, is it not?"

"Kite is the leader. If he begins to understand our position, the others will as well… Though types like BlackRose and Balmung may take more prodding than the others, all things considered." Yata shook his head. "For now it's a case of getting into contact with the other Epitaph users and making it clear that they should share as little as possible."

"Should we contact Haseo's other friends as well…?" Endrance tilted his head to the side. "They're sure to at least have some knowledge of AIDA, especially someone like Alkaid…"

"Alkaid, Shino, and Aina were all Lost Ones…" Pi put a fist to her lips as she thought. "And even without knowledge of the Epitaphs in Alkaid's case, they have less reason to keep quiet than the rest of us…"

"Then let us begin." Yata turned on his heel. "Send flash mails to the ones who pose the highest risk of exposing something that could make things troublesome for us."

"Understood."

"Yes…"

**XXX**

Alkaid was ready for the next Demon Palace Tournament! She'd been grinding up in the Arena with her team quite a bit lately and this time? This time she was gonna get her throne back! Falling too far behind Haseo and Atoli was out of the question, after all!

"Alright…" She stared at her ranking again with a grin. She was a shoe in as soon as it was announced. Maybe she could get her friends to come watch her in the tournament, too… She'd have to work even harder if Atoli and Haseo were in the stands...

"Excuse me…" She turned away from the counter at the sound of a voice. Was this that… Natsume lady who'd started hanging out with Haseo sometimes recently?

"You need something?" Alkaid tilted her head to the side, arms crossed.

"Actually, yes. I have some questions for you…" She scratched her cheek, thinking over the apparent questions. "Like about the fact you stopped playing for a while but then came back full force. Most people who take a hiatus don't do that…"

"Oh that? Uh…" Alkaid rubbed the back of her neck. "I was kinda in a coma… I didn't take a break because I wanted to! I was in the middle of a Palace Tournament!" She had needed to get to Sirius…

And that was actually how she ended up comatose, too. She cared too much and got attacked by that ex-member of Kestrel. The fact she saw her hanging around Haseo now made her really uncomfortable, honestly… Brought up a bunch of bad memories…

"Oh! I didn't realize, I'm sorry!" Natsume put her hand to her chest. "But… uh… I did want to ask about the coma rumors… Was the coma because of the game?"

"Sure was!" Alkaid sighed, shaking her head. "I got PKed by a PC that had some weird hacking going on and next thing I knew my consciousness was fading…"

Haseo had been so upset about it, too… He seemed to be doing well when she came back, though, at least. Hopefully it hadn't taken him too long to start being okay like that again.

"Are you okay…?" She tilted her head to the side, watching Alkaid (at least, she probably was. Her PC seemed to have permanently closed eyes).

"Yeah, I'm fine." Alkaid sighed. "This is just hard to talk about… Say, could you just email me whatever questions you have? That way I can answer at my own pace."

"O-oh, sure! I'll go send you an email right now then!" And with that, Natsume ran off.

Alkaid deflated as soon as she was out of range. Man… Talking about this stuff was really tiring…

**XXX**

Antares was just trying to have a relaxing day in The World. After having done so much to help Haseo, he felt he deserved it. He truly had gotten attached to the kid, despite everything starting as a way to help Phyllo… That didn't mean he wanted to spend all his time around him, though!

But it looked like young ones weren't exactly ready to let him rest yet! A PC, Blade Brandier like his, called Rachel approached him with a smile. He could tell just by the look on her face that she was up to no good.

"Hey there, Mister!" She gave a small wave as she came to a stop in front of him. "Mind if I ask you a few questions?"

"Well… I'm trying to relax today so I might mind…" Antares rubbed his chin with a hum. "How about you come back another day?"

"What?! No! I need the information today!" Rachel shook her head and grabbed him by the hands. "Please?! I'll do anything, give me a job and I'll do it in exchange for the information I need!"

"Really?"

"Well… I'd prefer money, but I really need the information, so just this once, yeah!" She seemed to be serious about this…

"Well… Alright! I guess I can give you a little time then!" He let out a laugh. "Tell me what you need!"

"Really? Thanks Mister!" She gave a grin, hand on her hip. "Well… To start, do you know anything about The Cursed Wave?"

"The Cursed Wave, huh…?" Antares hummed. "I think Phyllo mentioned that when he…"

"Phyllo?" Rachel tilted her head to the side. "Who's that and what did they mention?"

"Phyllo was an old friend…" Antares closed his eyes for a moment. May he rest in peace… "Sorry to say, but I probably shouldn't tell you when he mentioned it. It was something he left behind for my pupil and his friends only, after all."

"Oh come on!" Rachel groaned. "You gotta tell me now!"

"No can do." He shook his head. "Next question!"

"But-"

"I said next question, didn't I?" Antares clicked his tongue. "Come on now, respect your elders! If I say next question, I mean next question!"

"Ugh… Fine! I'll move on for now, but don't think I'm gonna drop it that easily!" She huffed, cheeks puffing out just a bit.

Antares let out another laugh. "Fine by me, but don't think I'm gonna decide to tell you any more on the topic!"

"Why you…!"

**XXX**

Kaede had no clue where Zelkova had gone and boy, was that bothering her. She kept an eye on him for a reason, so when he just slipped out from under her watch, it was always worrying. As if knowing he was off doing who knows what when she wasn't online wasn't enough cause for worry…

Maybe he had gone to the Net Slum? He seemed to spend quite a bit of time there, after everything that had happened with Haseo and his friends. He had been pouring over something to do with Skeith for a while now, after all…

"I suppose I should check there, then." She made her way for the Chaos Gate of Dol Dona, only to be cut off by a Lord Partizan with a very distracting outfit and haircut.

She blinked a few times, trying to formulate what to say as she read over his name. Nuke Usagimaru… Wasn't he some popular comedian? She'd tried to watch him once and found herself falling asleep during it…

"Hey!" He held up a hand and gave her a big smile. "You have a minute? I need to ask you some questions."

"I really don't, no." She shook her head. "I'm sorry, I'm looking for Lord Zelkova right now and I really don't have any time to waste."

"Oh come on…" Nuke Usagimaru frowned at her, stepping into her way again. "It won't take long!"

"I'm sorry, but I really am too busy in the moment to help you, if you can just find me later-"

"I don't have time later!" Nuke shook his head. "What if… You answer my questions if I can make you laugh!"

Kaede looked at him, frown on her face. "That wouldn't work."

He frowned right back. "Why not?"

"Your comedy honestly puts me to sleep…" She sighed. "It might go over well with some younger players, like Haseo or Atoli or even Alkaid, but it's not to my taste, I'm sorry."

She didn't exactly like being so frank about it, but she did need to find Zelkova. If he'd wandered into an Area on his own, who knew what would end up happening. Oh, if only he was answering flash mails…

"B...but…"

"I'm sorry, but I'll be going now." She stepped around him to the Chaos Gate. To Net Slum…

**XXX**

"I'm undefeatable!" Matsu had just taken out another monster and was having the time of his life wandering around the Area. He didn't solo often, but today it'd seemed like a good idea and boy, was he right!

He needed to do this more often, it was good practice. Would let him impress next time he went around with someone like Haseo or Zelkova… He couldn't help but grin ear to ear just thinking about it.

"You…" He turned at the sound of a voice. When had a Twin Blade gotten behind him?! "Answer my questions…"

"Who in the hell are you supposed to be?" Matsu read over his name. "Moonstone…" And he was talking to someone from Moon Tree… Huh.

"...The Cursed Wave… Do you know it?"

Matsu frowned at him, eyes narrowed. "What the hell is that supposed to be…? Look, Moon Tree is there to help people as much as we can while we rebuild, but I'm not sure if I can help you if you're not gonna make any sense!"

Moonstone grunted and a silence fell over them for a moment. This guy… Did not talk much, did he? Matsu wasn't sure how he felt about someone like that, if he was being honest. Kinda creeped him out, in a way.

"Look, if you don't have anything else to say, I'm gonna go keep killing monsters. Feel free to join me or ask more questions or whatever, just try to not get in the way, okay?" He turned on his heel and started off.

Moonstone following right after him. "Eliminate the enemies… Then I'll ask…"

Huh… So he liked taking out enemies in dungeons too? Made the guy a little less creepy, all things considered. Might be fun to see what this guy could do. He'd seen a few Twin Blades before, but they were all so different that it was always a sight to see a new one.

And he was less creepy than that also quiet, zombie-looking buddy of Haseo's. That was always a plus in his book.

"Alright, let's see what you can do then!" He grinned and started off towards the next enemy.

This was gonna be fun.

**XXX**

Tabby was wandering around Mac Anu, in hopes of finding either Haseo or Shino, when she nearly ran into a really strange looking guy. After all, she'd never seen a Blade Brandier that looked quite like this Marlo…

"Sorry about that!" She held a hand up in the air. "I didn't see you there!"

He frowned at her, but that didn't deter her one bit. "Well, you should watch where you're going! You're lucky I needed to talk to you!"

"Oh, me?" Tabby blinked a few times. "That's weird, usually people don't need to talk to me! They need to talk to Shino or Haseo…"

"Well, I don't need to talk to a Shino or a Haseo! So just listen and answer my questions, alright?" He crossed his arms, getting in her face for a moment.

Tabby just pouted and stepped back a step. "Well fine! But no need to be so rude about it!" She could be understanding, but she was no doormat, no siree!

"I'll be as rude as I want." Marlo continued without saving any room for Tabby to speak. "You took a long break from this game, why's that?"

"I needed to study hard, is all!" Tabby didn't mind talking about this, so she perked right back up. "Becoming a nurse takes a lot of hard word, and I wanted to do it for my friend, so…"

"Your friend? Why did you need to learn for them?"

"Well…" Her ears flattened against her head. "She… She was in the hospital for a while, and I wanted to do everything I could for her, so…"

Marlo thought for a moment. "Was your friend in a coma? I've been hearing a lot about coma rumors-"

"It's not my place to tell you that, sorry!" She shook her head. "If you wanna know why she was in the hospital, you'll have to find that out from her!"

"Then at least tell me your friend's name so I can!"

"Nope!" She shook her head once again. "I'm not gonna give my friend's name out to a stranger. Only other friends can ask for things like that!"

"Oh come on! You can't bring it up like that and then not tell me!" Marlo was clearly annoyed as he stepped towards her. "Just give me a name!"

"If you want me to give you a name, you better be ready to be friends!" Tabby smiled at him. "Don't worry, I'm open to being friends with grumps! I'm friends with Haseo, after all!"

"I'm not gonna be your friend just to get a name out of you!" Marlo huffed. "That's not my style!"

"Well then I guess you won't get the name… I gotta go, bye!" She started to dash off, ignoring his yells, only to pause. "Oh! But here's my member address, in case you ever change your mind. Bye for real this time!"

And with that, she finished dashing off. No reason to cut off any chances of being friends, right? She was always open to it, as long as someone like him was open to it, too, of course.

"I wonder if he'll ever change his mind…!"

**XXX**

"What was that?" Bordeaux grinned down at the whimpering player. "You want mercy? Too bad, that's not the kinda thing I'm into handing out!"

Bordeaux was more than a little pissed that day. She'd been trying to in contact with Haseo all day and not once had he answered her! Who did he think he was, ignoring her like that?! After what she'd told him when she gave him her member address too…!

It was a good thing that PKing was a tried-and-true way to blow off steam.

Well, usually it was, but she heard Negimaru and Grein getting their asses handed to them. Turning around, she saw a woman. Gardenia, a Lord Partizan, had easily put them on the ground. She turned to look at Bordeaux and she expected her to continue PKKing when…

"You, I need to speak with you." She didn't let her weapon disappear, but she didn't point it at Bordeaux, either. What was with her…?

"Oh? And why should I do anything for a PKK?"

"You might have information on Tri-Edge. I need information on Tri-Edge." Oh_ come on._ What was this? Haseo 2.0?

"How long have you been living under a rock?" Bordeaux let out a barking laugh. "If you want that information, Haseo is probably your best bet. As far as most PKs are concerned, Tri-Edge doesn't exist!"

"I see…" Gardenia hummed. "What about the Cursed Wave?"

"The what?!"

"Strange bugs?"

"There was that AIDA thing that possessed me for a while, but does that really matter?" Bordeaux put a hand on her hip as she shoved down the unpleasant memories and frowned at Gardenia. "You're getting in my way!"

"I see, then you have nothing for me." She let her eyes wander to where the hapless idiot still cowered. "You should leave now."

The person nodded and rushed off before Bordeaux had a chance to say anything. Dammit…! That was supposed to be her kill! Who the hell did this bitch think she was?!

"You're gonna pay for that!" She lunged at her, blade at the ready. If she couldn't PK that fool, she'd PK Gardenia!

Gardenia, however, moved right out of the way, moving into a fighting stance and attacking right back. The traded blow after blow, but Bordeaux was no match. Before she knew it, she was flat on her back, lance at her neck.

"That was foolish of you. You shouldn't attack those who are stronger than you." Gardenia said this… but she was only level 99! Bordeaux had more than twenty levels on her!

Before she could point this out, Gardenia turned away and made for the Chaos Gate. Oh… This wasn't over…!

**XXX**

Silabus was worried… Wasn't Gaspard supposed to meet up with him? He hadn't seen the beast-type PC all day… He was about to go looking for him, honestly. It was worrying, especially since he was showing as online!

"Excuse me, could you help me?" A Flick Reaper approached him, looking confused. "Um… I haven't really played R:2 before and I need some help finding someone."

"Oh? I'll be happy to help!" He smiled, reading her name. Terajima Ryoko…? "Who are you looking for?"

"I'm looking for a Silabus… I've heard he's very helpful to noobs like me…" She tilted her head to the side. "Do you know where I could find him?"

"Uh… Well, that'd be me, actually!" He was now a bit worried… Her level read as 99, why did she need to talk to someone known for helping noobs? And why did she say she hadn't really played R:2 before…?

"Oh, then I have some questions about the changes from R:1 to R:2." She approached him a bit. "Is the Cursed Wave an issue in this version?"

"Cursed Wave…?" Silabus blinked a few times. "Well, I don't think there's an issue like that around here! The biggest issue is probably the bands of PKs that are around!"

"PKs…" Terajima Ryoko nodded. "Understood!"

"Is there anything else I can try and help you with? I didn't exactly play R:1, but I can still do my best to answer your questions!" He smiled at her again. She seemed well meaning, even if a few things about this seemed a little off.

"Oh, yes, I have more questions. Do you know about Tri-Edge…?"

Oh dear, this was gonna be an interesting questioning session, huh…?

**XXX**

Gaspard was running so late to seeing Silabus! He needed to hurry and meet up with him! Oh, he'd spent too long as Shop Acorn, he needed to be better about watching the time when he was doing that…!

And oh, he was just messing up more today! He ran right into someone, falling onto his back and flailing around until the man reached down and helped him up. Wow, this was such a unique PC…

Sanjuro, a Blade Brandier. That was what Gaspard was able to gather looking the man over. "Uh, thank you! And I'm sorry, I should've been paying more attention…"

"It's fine, things like that happen." Sanjuro shook his head and pat Gaspard on his. "In fact, it's actually a good thing I ran into you."

"Oh, is it?" He tilted his head to the side.

"Yeah, I heard about Canard and thought what you guys are doing is pretty admirable." He nodded, rubbing his chin. "There was a player I knew in R:1 that I helped out… They were a good kid."

"Oh, well thank you! I'm glad to hear people were doing things like that even before Canard was a thing!" He giggled, giving a silly little salute. "Is there any other reason you were looking for me and not Silabus or Haseo, though…?"

"I thought you looked like the kind of guy who might know what to avoid when it comes to The World, and I was curious about that." He nodded. "And any rumors you might know about."

"Well, I kept my eye out for Tri-Edge rumors for Haseo for a while! I don't think any of the ones I saw were that useful, though…" He deflated a bit. "And now Haseo doesn't need them, so I'm not sure if I would have any rumors that could be useful to you… I'm sorry."

"It's fine." He shook his head, clearly not that upset. "But you might know more useful information than you think. If you'd just let me ask some questions about things like bugs…"

"O-oh, well go ahead!" Gaspard nodded. "I'll do my best! J… just let me send my friend a flash mail so he knows I'm gonna be late to meet up with him!"

Sanjuro nodded. "Take your time."

**XXX**

Zelkova found himself spending most of his time in Net Slum now, after everything had happened. It was easiest to do things here, like his current plan. What he wanted to get Haseo to let him do wouldn't be able to be done anywhere else, after all…

"Oh." A voice alerted him to a visitor and he turned. "I wasn't expecting to see anyone else here."

A woman was standing there, an outfit that could only be heavily modified with a weapon to match. This had to be Helba, the super-hacker who had created Net Slum all the time ago, right…? Wow! He never thought he'd meet her face to face!

"Yeah! This is where I spend a lot of time now! It's a good place for AIs like me." He smiled at her, eyes bright. "I never thought you'd be here when I was, though!"

"I suppose that's fair, but when I saw that the Wave wasn't as gone as I thought, I couldn't help but jump back in." She chuckled, moving closer to Zelkova. "That is, after all, a danger."

"You're right, but I don't think it's a danger in a way you think it is." Zelkova shook his head. "In fact, I'm working on making sure the threat it brought about doesn't come back!"

"The threat?"

"Cubia." Zelkova looked up at her. "It shouldn't be a real threat as long as I seal away the strongest of the Phases, though."

"So Cubia became a threat again, hmm?" She tapped her cheek. "Interesting."

"Mmhmm! When AIDA was gone, Cubia moved to fill in the gap…" He trailed off. "Haseo and his friends dealt with it, of course!"

"Haseo, hm? You think you could tell me more…?"

"Oh, sure. There's not much to tell, though-"

"Lord Zelkova!"

He looked towards the door. "Actually, it'll have to wait. I think Kaede is looking for me." It would be a bit hard to try and explain before she came in and asked questions. "Bye for now, ex-Queen of the Netslum."


	3. Chapter 3

**Another chapter... Trying to split this one night into a bunch of chapters just because I have a lot of specific ideas that would work the best doing that. Issues with scene cuts that worked on Ao3 but not on here have also been fixed!**

**Also, minor characters that won't play a big role are starting to pop up. Namely Kazu and Mirei rn, but others could have mentions and cameos. Especially SIGN characters, thanks to plans for later in the fic :)**

* * *

Asahi stared at the email he'd composed to Helba and sighed. He'd gotten so little out of Haseo before his friend had whisked him away. That could have gone so much better… He hoped others had at least gotten a little useful information for the investigation.

"I should go get dinner…" He pressed send and pushed his seat back.

He was getting kind of tired of going out alone every night. It made enough sense, his friends were usually busy doing something else or going someplace with someone already… But it was pretty lonely. He thought for a moment, wondering if anyone would be done as quickly as he was. Probably not, so…

Oh! There was his neighbor across the way, Ryou was it? He seemed like he was often alone, too… Asahi had been wanting to get closer to his neighbors, so maybe he'd invite the kid to grab a bite.

After making sure his clothes weren't gross after sitting hunched over his computer and slipping on shoes, he came to a stop in front of Ryou's apartment. A deep breath later, and he was knocking.

It took a few moments, but Ryou did indeed answer, bags upon bags under his eyes. He was always quite the odd duck, stood out to Asahi among the other neighbors. He not only dyed his hair, but to an ashy color… He was shocked a high schooler could get away with it! If he changed from his normal brown at any point in school, he was sure he'd have gotten in trouble…

That wasn't even mentioning how frumpy he looked. A t-shirt two sizes too big, a pair of sweatpants that look like they'd seen better days, and mismatch socks. Add in the almost worried and distant expression on his face, and he was worried high school was really different nowadays. What were they doing to these kids?

"You need something?" Ryou spoke, head tilted as he looked up at Asahi. "Or did you knock on the wrong door?"

"This is the right door!" Asahi smiled, rubbing the back of his neck. "I just… ah… Would you like to grab a bite with me?"

Ryou blinked slowly, running a hand through his hair. "...Sure, why not? Gimme a second."

The door was closed on Asahi for a minute or two and he heard Ryou rummaging around. He guessed he hadn't been as ready to head out as he had been… And that was fair. He did look like he was still in pajamas, after all.

Eventually, Ryou did step out, closing the door behind him. "...Let's go."

"Got it." He nodded and gestured for Ryou to follow after. "You know, I'm actually shocked you were willing to come along."

"Yeah…?" Ryou rubbed the back of his neck. "Well, I need to start getting out there and making more friends, so… I thought why not…"

"Ah, good for you!" Asahi smiled back at him. "Hope this won't make you change your mind."

Ryou snorted, rolling his eyes. "Whatever, as long as I don't have to pay a bunch for it, I'm sure I'll survive."

"Don't worry, I'll pay for it." He pointed to himself. "I'm not gonna ask a teenager to pay for his own meal if I invite him out."

Ryou's eyes widened and he stared at Asahi for a moment, words processing. "Really?"

"Well, yeah?" He rubbed the back of his neck, head tilted to the side. He didn't go work his ass off on his novels to not spend some money on others… "Do you want to pay for yourself?"

He shook his head. "No, no. I'm just, uh, used to people expecting me to pay I guess."

"I see…" Asahi tried to look him in the eyes, but Ryou was dead set on staring at his feet now. "Uh…"

_So what do you want to eat? How's life been for you? Anything interesting going on for high school students these days?_ So much he could say to try and redirect the conversation, but not one wanted to actually come out of his mouth, no matter how much he opened and closed it in an attempt to squeeze some words out.

"So, where're we going?" Ryou finally glanced over at him, eyes darting right back to his feet. "There's a place nearby with some good food, if you don't have any plans in mind."

Asahi's brain was about as empty and dry as a desert at the moment, so Ryou having an idea of where to go was great! "Lead the way, then!"

Ryou nodded and stepped ahead of him, shoulders slumped ever so slightly, as if out of habit. He racked his brain for decent conversation topics once again, following after him slowly, but still nothing wanted to actually come out.

And so an uncomfortable silence fell over them the rest of the way to the restaurant. It was just a little hole-in-the-wall place, a warm welcome making Asahi feel all cozy inside as they sat down. He hadn't expected Ryou to be a fan of a place like this… You learned something every day, huh?

"So…" Ryou tapped his finger against the table as Asahi looked over the selection offered by the restaurant. "Any reason you invited me out for dinner?"

"I just thought it'd be nice to spend some time with one of my neighbors…" His shoulders slumped and he scratched at his cheek. "...And I thought it might be a good pick-me-up after utterly failing at something today."

"Wow, you failing at something?" Ryou rose an eyebrow. "I didn't think that was possible."

"Well it's not like you know me well enough to be certain, right?" He shrugged. "It's no big deal, I just wish it'd gone better. The first time in ages that I play The World and it goes horribly…"

"No way… You used to play The World?" Ryou stared at him for a moment. "You didn't seem the type."

"Really? I guess that's fair enough, I used to play because of my friend Yasuhiko…" He gave a little laugh. "Though you don't look the type either, so how do you know?"

He scoffed. "I look more of the type than you do."

"So, do you play?"

Ryou nodded. "If you have trouble adjusting to the game in its current state, you should look up my guild. Canard does its best to help noobs, and someone like you would probably be similar enough."

Asahi blinked once, twice, three times. "You're Haseo?"

Ryou looked at him, wide-eyed, like a deer in the headlights. "How'd you guess that?"

"Well, I tried to talk to you in the game today, but your friend dragged you off." He pointed at himself. "I'm Kite. Remember me?"

Ryou continued to stare, words barely processing. "...Fuck."

**XXX**

Kaoru's hands shook as he reread the email he planned on sending to Helba. It was a scary feeling, outright lying to a hacker as well known as her, but necessary. The last thing he wanted, after all, was Haseo to be at risk because he told the truth.

And so the answers were simple, short. No, Endrance didn't have a clue what the Cursed Wave was. He'd only heard passing rumors about comas and Tri-Edge being a PK, too. He'd seen a strange graphical glitch once or twice, but nothing he'd paid much attention to.

"That will have to work…" He pressed send after a moment's pause, leaning back in his chair long enough to catch his breath once the deed was done. Now he just had to wait for Helba to contact him again…

He shut down the system, removing his M2D with a sigh. He was tired… More tired than he usually was when he logged off of The World.

He missed Mia more than he usually did these days. Her beautiful memory becoming muddy with the tension raising. How would she react to the Phases still being active? She hadn't remembered them, or much of anything other than him, at the end… But he couldn't help but wonder.

Feet dragging against the carpet, he made his way to his bed, collapsing into it and letting his eyes close. He just had to hope he and Takumi were able to convince Asahi that the Phases were no longer a threat.

AIDA and Cubia were no longer breathing down their neck, after all. Chances of the heightened activity continuing was low, at best.

For now, though, the best he could do was stand-by and hope. Hope Takumi and him could do something. Hope the flash mails they sent to those who could reveal too much made it to them in time. Hope that this storm would pass with minimal damage.

And, in this very moment? Maybe it would just be for the best if he got some sleep.

**XXX**

Akira let out a huff when as she shoveled her dinner into her mouth. Atoli had been so open to telling her things when they first got to the Area, even if the way she spoke was awkward and quick. Akira had still found most of it useful, at the very least…

Like the fact Atoli had no clue what the Cursed Wave was, but did recognize the 8 Phases as a name for them! That had to mean something, right? Maybe that the event was remembered, just not under the same name the .hackers were used to?

She had been about to ask more questions about that when Atoli paused, as if reading over a message. After that? Everything had gone downhill so fast Akira wanted to scream.

_"How did you hear about the 8 Phases?"_

_"O...oh, just in passing…!"_

_"Do you know who you overheard talking about it?"_

_"I-I couldn't tell you…!"_

And so on and so forth… She wasn't sure what had spooked her into keeping quiet, but it was annoying. And… kind of worrying. Enough so that she had given Helba a heads up. If someone was working against them to keep everyone quiet, they were gonna need to figure out_ who._

She went back to eating, still pretty angry about all of this. The only bright side was the fact she still had Atoli's member address, and she could always try and get more information from her later. She'd just have to be sneakier about it…

A knock on the door pulled her away from her thoughts and food for a moment. Who was there…?

"I'm coming…!" She stood up and made her way for the door, pulling it open with a frown. "Kazu…! Why are you here?"

Her younger brother tilted his head to the side, confused. "What do you mean why are you here…? Didn't we agree that I'd come over before our plans tomorrow to make sure everything was still gonna happen?"

"Oh!" A gasp escaped her lips, she'd totally forgotten…! "That's right, we were going to meet up with Shugo and Rena, weren't we?"

"Yeah…" Fumikazu crossed his arms. "Can you not come, sis?"

"Oh no! I should be fine!" So long as Helba didn't need something from her tomorrow morning. "No need to change the plans! I'll see you guys tomorrow."

Fumikazu was clearly worried, but he nodded. "Alright, if you say so… But if something does come up, let me know, okay? Shugo and Rena would probably want to know if you can't make it."

"Don't worry, Kazu!" Akira smiled at him, patting him on the back. "I'll make it, no matter what… But, uh, I'm in the middle of eating, so if that's all you need, I think I'm gonna go."

As if to punctuate her statement, her stomach growled. Very loudly. Thank goodness this was just Fumikazu and not a stranger or a friend…

"I'll let you get back to your dinner, bye sis! See you tomorrow!" He waved at her, smile on his face betraying his want to laugh as he walked away from her doorstep.

She stuck her tongue out in reply. "Bye, Kazu! See you tomorrow!"

She closed the door and made her way back to her food, sitting back down and digging in again. A break from this would be nice, she didn't want to get too caught up in it all, after all. That'd just be unhealthy after how much she played The World back when Fumikazu went comatose…

But her phone went off, an email… She pulled out her phone, swallowing hard.

"Please, don't be from Helba…"

**XXX**

Mayumi watched Mirei dig into dinner, a smile on her face. She had a big day coming up soon, and couldn't help but spoil the seven year old a little bit…

"Are you excited for your entrance exams, Mirei?" She laughed at the sight of her daughter's face covered in food.

"Mmhmm!" She gave her a bright smile. "Tokyo University seems like it'd be fun to go to…"

"I'm sure you'll do great!" She ruffled her hair with a laugh. "If you think you did well, we'll have to go out like this again."

"Cool!" Mirei thought for a moment, little finger on her chin. "Um… actually… Do you think if I do well I could play The World again…?"

Mayumi paused. "...Maybe!"

So long as they made sure that Cursed Wave wasn't causing issues and comas weren't a possibility. She couldn't bring herself to put her daughter at risk, no matter how much she wanted to play the game.

"Yay!" Mirei giggled. "I just wish I could use your old PC still…"

"Maybe you can make one that looks kinda like it again, if I let you play!" Mayumi wasn't sure if that was possible in the new character creator, but it didn't hurt to suggest!

And if that didn't work out, maybe she could ask Helba to set the PC she made for the investigation to match the parameters of R:2… Then she could just give it to Mirei and let her have some fun, right…?

Oh, that would be perfect! A secondary use for the PC, so it didn't go to waste when all was said and done.

Maybe she could even introduce her daughter to that nice Sakubo kid. He'd been the sweetest thing, even if some of his answers had made Mayumi suspicious. She was sure Mirei and him would get along, so long as that impression she'd gotten was accurate!

"Momma…" Mirei poked Mayumi in the arm, head tilted to the side. "What are you thinking about?"

"Oh, nothing!" She smiled, ruffling her daughter's hair. "You should focus on your studying, okay? If you really wanna play The World you're gonna have to do extra good!"

Mirei nodded, determination burning in her eyes. "Okay!"

Mayumi giggled. "That's my girl!"

**XXX**

"So, how'd it go for you?" Reiko stared at her ceiling, phone pressed to her as she waited for Nuke to reply.

"It… Didn't go at all!" Nuke let out an exasperated sigh on the other end. "She just kept talking about needing to find some Lord Zelkova and told me she wouldn't laugh at my jokes. She didn't even let me try!"

"I would've rather dealt with that than with some old man who's answers left me with more questions!" Reiko's cheeks puffed out at the memory. "He definitely knew something, but wouldn't go into detail about any of it!"

All she knew about that Phyllo still was that he was some sort of 'old friend' and that he'd left something for someone. Every other question led to no real answers… Well, past one thing about killing Cubia Gamoras for a kid.

No names, but at least they knew someone who was involved on some level. Maybe Helba or Kite would be able to talk to him and get him to squeal.

"I feel like we somehow drew the shortest possible straws when we picked our files…" Nuke let out a long sigh. "I should've tried to trade with Natsume when she got that Alkaid girl, she looks like she'd appreciate my humor."

"You're tellin me! I shouldn't have traded with Takumi." She rolled onto her stomach as she continued to speak. "But he was so insistent on havin that Yata guy. It was so weird."

"Huh… That is kinda weird." Nuke went quiet for a minute. "Should we tell Asahi or Helba about that?"

"I'm not sure… I didn't think much of it at the time, but maybe?" Rachel frowned, trying to weigh the pros and cons of mentioning it in her head. "I guess it might be worth it if everything else ends up being a dead end."

"Yeah, guess so. Don't wanna jump the gun and have some genius teenager putting you on a shitlist!" Nuke let out a chuckle.

"Oh don't worry, if that happened, I'd make sure you'd end up on there right next to me." She stuck out her tongue, even though Nuke couldn't exactly see it. "We are partners, after all. It'd only be right to share."

Reiko could hear Nuke shifting, likely sitting up straight. "H...hey now! You don't have to share that with me…!"

"Maybe not, but you brought it up, so it'd only be right if I made sure Takumi knew that part." She was grinning now.

Man, shooting the shit like this sometimes did a world of good. Or maybe it was just fun to hear Nuke weakly protest when she said stuff like this… It was hard to tell, actually. They usually came hand-in-hand these days.

"Come on, Reiko…!" He was still sputtering at her. "It was just a suggestion, if you go through with it-"

"It's because you suggested it! No way out of this, Nuke." She snickered. "I should go, anyway. I still haven't eaten and this'll go around in circles until I starve."

"How about we meet up for some late dinner, then?"

"You gonna try and convince me to not let it slip to Takumi that you suggested I squeal on him?"

"Well…" Nuke paused for a moment or ten. "Probably!"

"Then I'll pass. See ya." She hung up, placing the phone in her pocket as she headed for her kitchen. Now, to find some grub...


	4. Chapter 4

**Another chapter... Still a lot planned before the next big chapter where all of/half of the cast planned for this fic meet up, but we're getting closer :,) I also realized I picked a few too many similar/same names for the IMOQ cast... oops?**

**Also, please know there'll be quite a bit of talk about alcohol when it comes to Antares sections!**

**Comments about a specific review: Skeith and Ryou are tied on a level past just PC and Avatar, however, Ryou cannot communicate with Skeith in anyway outside of The World.**

* * *

Ryou swallowed hard as Asahi smiled at him, head tilted to the side. How in the hell did he have luck like that?! Panic was seizing at him, words past an explicit grumble escaping him. This guy knew the name Skeith, and the title associated with him, and that was enough to put Ryou on edge.

"Y...Y'know, I just realized I have some food at home that'll go bad if I don't eat it tonight." He stood up and started for the door of the restaurant. "Sorry, but I should head back."

"Are you sure…? It's probably not gonna be an amazing meal if it's all about to go bad." Asahi frowned, looking over at him.

"I'm sure, I don't want it to go to waste!"

Asahi stood up. "Then is there enough for two? I do wanna chat a little bit, since we were already sitting and starting a pretty important conversation."

"Sorry, but there isn't." He shook his head. "I don't keep more than what I need for myself at home…"

"Ah, living the bachelor life, too…" Asahi sat back down. "I get it, we'll just have to talk some other time."

"Y...yeah." He nodded, though he honestly wasn't so sure that'd be a good idea. Not after everything Azure Kite had said to him and the flash mail that had arrived from Yata…

A hacker looking for the Phases, a warning to keep his mouth shut and play dumb if anyone came asking him about stuff like that… It just made it sound like Asahi would be trouble to hang around as long as it was all still going down.

"I'll be going, then." He gave an awkward little wave and rushed out the door, heading towards his apartment.

He needed Yata to give him more information, or maybe Azure Kite. He didn't know if either of them would have much information to share, but anything else could help. He needed to know if Asahi was working with this mysterious hacker or if it was just a coincidence…

Seeing as it was the man who lived right across the way, he couldn't help but hope it was the latter. If it was anything other than that, he might just have to start sneaking out the fire escape whenever he needed to go somewhere.

He really, really did not want it to come to that.

**XXX**

Reiko scratched her cat behind the ear with a sigh as she stared at her computer screen. When she'd quit CC Corp the other day, she hadn't known it would be a mistake… Of course, leaving the company as a whole wasn't a mistake, but her timing? A bit of one.

If she had known people would be sticking their noses into the Epitaph PCs, she might have stuck around a little longer. Just long enough to make sure CC Corp could try and keep said noses away from them.

"I hope Master Yata knows what he's doing…" She finally shut her computer down, heading towards her kitchen.

For now, they had to wait. Besides telling others to be quiet on everything, there was nothing to do. At least not for someone like her, an outsider who'd simply heard of the .hackers. She just had to believe in those who did so happen to be part of them.

Her cat meowed as she reached into the cupboard for their food. "Now, now, be patient."

As she poured the food into their bowl, she continued to think on everything. She was sure the young lady and both Sakubos would listen to what had been said. Kuhn and Haseo as well, so long as the right buttons weren't pushed… But what about those who used to be Lost Ones?

Thinking about Aina, her pain when it came to her now comatose brother… Reiko could very well see her telling all she knew, in a desperate attempt to save him. And honestly? She couldn't blame her.

If she had had a chance to save Jun, after all, she might have done something stupid as well…

She shook her head, placing the cat food back into the cupboard and once again scratching her cat's head as they munched away. Now wasn't the time to be thinking about that… Reiko needed to keep her head in the game, after all, one little slip up could mean disaster.

"Let's hope things don't go too badly, hm?" Her cat looked up at her, a little 'mrrp' escaping. "...I think so, too."

**XXX**

Chigusa felt horrible.

She had gone with that player, BlackRose, without thinking much about it. Her questions had seemed odd, but she hadn't thought it would hurt to say that she_ did_ know what the 8 Phases were. It was a harmless question, she had felt…

But then she'd gotten a flash mail from Pi, telling her to say _nothing_ about that or anything else she may be questioned about. She'd had to do her best to minimize any damage she may have done, then. Avoiding and deflecting questions the best she could…

Chigusa knew she shouldn't blame herself fully for not knowing and answering a small question, but it was hard to not feel bad about it. She sent Pi an apology email after she and BlackRose had finished the Area, though. Hopefully she would see it and understand.

Before Chigusa had much of a chance to continue thinking on it all, her birds were chirping away, pulling her from her computer. Even Haku was getting in on the noises, when she was usually so quiet...

"I'm sorry! I need to play with you all, don't I?" She'd been so caught up she almost forgot! Thank goodness she hadn't.

It was always a joy to spend some time with her birds, they always made her feel so happy… For a while, all she'd had was them and Sakaki.

"Sakaki…" It still stung, thinking about what had happened with him. She had trusted him so deeply and he…

She closed her eyes tightly, shaking her head. No! She wouldn't think about it, she would move forward. That's what Haseo had showed her would be the best choice, what all her friends made her feel like she could do. She didn't just have her birds and Sakaki, not anymore! There was Haseo, the rest of the Epitaph Users, others from Moon Tree, and even Alkaid!

"I need to be strong for them, don't I?" She opened Bun's cage, allowing him to perch on her hand. "And for myself."

She was being seen for who she was now, and she needed to keep the momentum going. If she could stay strong, she was sure the others could as well.

"I just hope that BlackRose lady and her friends don't end up hating us all…" She let out a small sigh, petting Bun's head with one finger. "I'd hate it if we couldn't find a middle ground…"

She was sure, whatever the reason they were asking about the Avatars, was something they could come to an understanding on. BlackRose had seemed wary of them, not seeking their power after all. Maybe if she knew they were in good hands, things would be alright…

"I guess I'll just have to wait and see what Pi says…"

**XXX**

Iori had been really tired after shopping for a present for Haseo, that Saku hadn't needed to ask or push too much to take a turn playing the game. Of course, she was left pretty confused when she saw all that was going on in the game when she looked around, since her brother didn't exactly give her much information about it all.

Some PC named Mistral waving and saying she had had fun that day before running off had been the biggest mystery to her. Had Iori made a new friend while he was fronting, then…? She guessed it was possible, but she'd been so energetic and in your face…

She kinda expected that stuff would scare Iori, at least at first.

But she left it for now. She would just ask him about it later, after he'd gotten some rest! There'd still been plenty of GP left in their pockets, so Saku had been able to find the _perfect_ gift for Endrance…

This was finally her chance, Endrance would finally see that she was a much better option than Haseo…! Sure, she had started to realize Haseo wasn't all that bad, but she still refused to give up Endrance to him!

He had those girls who liked him, anyway. He could always date one of them instead, and leave Endrance alone, right…? And if he liked boys she guessed there were always those weird AIs. She'd seen the aftermath of him sending Azure Kite that Promise Card out of curiosity, after all, so she knew he had options!

"I bet he'd be pretty mad if I brought up that I knew, though…" She snickered to herself as she moved away from where she'd placed the M2D. For now, it'd be her little secret.

**XXX**

When Mikihisa finally stepped away from The World for the day, his wife was already in bed, sleeping away peacefully. That day in The World had been anything but the peaceful little break he'd wanted, thanks to that Rachel girl asking question after question, and it was getting to him.

He needed to eat, maybe drink a little of the newfound stress away while he was at it. Anything would be better than sitting here thinking about all the strange questions she asked. Thinking about how all those questions could lead her right to Haseo…

That kid had been through a lot already, and Mikhisa was sure he didn't want more issues. He could picture it now, Haseo frowning at him and yelling about how he didn't need more stuff piled onto his already full plate…

Mikihisa knew he'd deserve it if it came to that, but geez, the thought wasn't a fun one. He needed to be more careful about what he said from here on out.

He finally stood from his chair with a sigh, making his way into the kitchen to try and quietly cook something up. He finally found something he could slap into the microwave and, while it cooked, cracked open some booze.

If his wife was awake right now, he'd be sure she'd tell him he needed to stop drinking so much.

"You always drink", she'd say with a frown on her face, "take it easy, why don't ya?"

And Mikihisa would laugh it off, tell her to not worry about it. He never drank around the girls, it was just something he did for fun when it came to The World! Or when he needed to take the edge off of his work on the magazine…

"Maybe she's onto something…" He took a swing of the drink as he watched the food cooking. "I could probably stand to cut back a little bit…"

That was something Mikihisa could worry about later, though. For now, it'd work, and that was about all he could ask for. When things with this Rachel girl were sure to be nothing or, if it was something, blew over he'd move towards drinking less.

That didn't mean he'd give it up totally, though! No way. He just needed to keep it to celebrations and casual drinking with his wife or co-workers, is all! He was sure his wife wouldn't love it, but she'd sure as hell like it more than what he was doing now.

He stopped the microwave, a second to spare before it'd go off and awaken the entire household. That was a close one, he'd gotten too caught up in his thoughts there!

"Now's not the time to be thinking, huh...?" He pulled the food out and plopped down at the table with it. "Guess I really should save it all for later."

For now, he needed to fill up his stomach and get some rest.

**XXX**

Kyouko had finally been able to make sure Zelkova was alright, and now she was so tired. She worried about the boy so often, and sometimes it was hard to tell if he realized that or not. He was always doing things under her nose and…

She shook her head. No, no. She wasn't his mother, no matter how much he reminded her of her son. She could worry, but she couldn't smother. She was sure he knew what he was doing, anyway.

But it was hard, sometimes. She often found herself thinking about him and what he was doing. He was capable, of course, but even the most capable ran risk of danger… Like when Atoli PKed him, under Sakaki's guidance.

She sighed, standing from her seat. "It's too late for this…"

Kyouko had a shift coming up in the morning, and she needed to rest tonight and sleep soon if she was going to be able to do her job correctly. The patients mattered just as much to her, after all.

After reminding herself of that, she went and grabbed herself a protein shake. Not her ideal meal, but she needed to finish it and head to bed within the hour. She sat on her couch, drinking the shake and turning on the television.

Nothing interesting was on the news tonight, things having calmed down after the events within The World came to a close. That was good… They all needed a break. Without the strange happenings being brought up…

And that was when she remembered Nuke Usagimaru and the fact he wanted to ask her questions. That wasn't even mentioning the woman she'd seen with Zelkova in the Net Slum… None of that was normal, in fact, it was fairly strange…

Kyouko swallowed hard at the thought. It seemed like the break they all sorely needed may be a while away still.


	5. Chapter 5

**Another chapter... I'm strugglin a bit w writing some characters, but it's fine. I'll get there eventually :,)**

**Also I'm almots laughing at the review mentioning AI stuff and it being confusing bc :-)**

* * *

Asahi should've waited to bring up that he was Kite, he guessed, because now he was stuck eating dinner all by himself. He'd hoped Ryou would just answer some questions while they ate, they could joke around and have fun alongside it, maybe become good friends…

He'd decided to leave the place himself, once he was sure Ryou wouldn't see him. He didn't plan on bothering the teen anymore, and he didn't want him thinking he was following him. He just didn't feel like staying at the restaurant alone, though. He'd instead follow Ryou's lead and eat something at home.

...And of course, when he got home and looked around, he had nearly nothing to eat. "I should've gone to the convenience store…"

After finding a sorry excuse for a dinner, he sat himself in front of the computer again. He had given up on The World for a reason… But maybe he should look around R:2 a bit more, see what the revision had to offer.

M2D slipped into place, he booted up the game, once again finding himself in Mac Anu. Even though so much had changed, it was nice to know the first town noobs of R:2 would see was Mac Anu, just like the noobs of R:1. Made things feel a little more connected.

"Ah…" A voice, raspy and croaky like it was rarely (if ever) used, pulled him from his thoughts. "You…"

"Hm?" He turned, the smile on his face falling as soon as he saw who was standing there.

This wasn't some regular looking PC, not even one he could assumed had been modified heavily. He looked too much like him, too much like some distorted mirror-self, for Kite to just write it off so easily.

He seemed upset, too, though he took to one knee, staring up at him. Almost as if he was showing some sort submission to Kite. Based off the glare, however, it wasn't exactly voluntary.

"What…?" He blinked a few times. "Who are you? What are you doing?"

"Azure Kite…" He forced the words out of his mouth. "Aura…"

His voice trailed off, grunts of discomfort escaping him. He clearly had more to say, but couldn't quite hit the words… And Kite? Kite felt like he was being slapped in the face over and over and over.

"Hulle Granz Cathedral…" Azure Kite finally stood up, as if fighting every piece of his being that had forced him onto one knee to begin with. "Come with me…"

Kite didn't know why, but he nodded. Maybe things would become more clear if he followed him.

**XXX**

Sora was at a loss. He'd started to dig into what seemed like it could be useful information, only for the young girl Aina to run off. He'd tried following her to the Root Town, but by the time he'd gotten there, she'd vanished.

What did her brother have to do with this? Helba had listed to speak about not only the Phases, but coma rumors as well… Was it possible that her brother was a victim on the Cursed Wave's second coming? If he was, they needed to work fast.

"I'll have to do some digging…" He might not work at CC Corp anymore, but he still had connections. Maybe he could get someone to at least pass him the file they had on the player known as Aina.

Chances were the actual company would have more than what Helba could extract directly from the game, at the very least.

He pulled Satoshi's number up on his phone, sending a quick message his way. He wouldn't pressure him into doing it, of course, he didn't want Satoshi to risk his job or get harassed by Shibayama over it, but he did make it clear that he needed help. If anyone would feel for his case, it was his old assistant.

Hopefully, they could get to the bottom of things before it was too late. He could feel that little girl's pain, even when they were simply in the game… He was sure it was similar to how he'd felt when Orca vanished from the game, laying comatose and out of reach…

Just thinking about it made his heart hurt. He didn't want anyone else going through that pain and that anger…

But he also didn't want to do what Lios had done, using those feelings in order to progress his own plans… He would have to keep an eye on anything he chose to do with this girl, anything he asked of her. Aina didn't need to go through the same things he had in order to save someone she cared about.

The next time Helba contacted him, he would be sure to make that clear. With how she and Lios had gotten along, he was sure she would understand… Or, at least, he hoped she would.

But for now, it was time to wait until Satoshi got back to him.

**XXX**

Yasuhiko logged out of the game and sucked in a deep breath. It was weird, playing for so long… After his coma, the most he ever played was an hour at a time, if he was lucky. Going back to playing more than that was just… strange.

At least he'd been lucky enough to be speaking with someone like Shino. She'd been nice, willing to answer his questions… And she knew what it was like to be in a coma because of a game. It made it easier for Yasuhiko to ask some of the questions he had.

She'd been a bit vague at times. Yes, she knew of the Phases. Yes, they had some role in the coma stuff, but no. They hadn't been the reason they happened. No, she wouldn't go into detail about what that means…

But hey, she'd given him her member address, so if Helba asked him to get more details, he could try without having to run around searching for her.

And, well… He didn't know Helba nearly as much as the others did, thanks to his state through most of the event, but he was sure she'd want some more information. After all, he knew very well that the Cursed Wave wasn't exactly friendly. Shino saying otherwise was surely something they needed to look into…

"I just hope I don't end up scaring her with all the questions or something…" She seemed like she could be a good source of information, and Yasuhiko would hate to screw that up.

But for now, he just needed to wait… Maybe call Sora or Asahi, see if either of them were free. It might be nice to go hang out with them for a while, get his mind off of all of this. Afterall, as much as he hated to admit it, this was bringing back a lot of bad memories.

If he hadn't wanted to help out Asahi, he might have actually said no thanks when his best friend had brought up the idea of helping Helba. He knew no one would blame him for it, after all… But it was too late for that now.

He was in it for the long haul. He might just sit back and let others have the glory if it came down to fighting Skeith, though. That might be too much, even if he was pushing himself this hard right now.

A long sigh escaped his lips as he stretched out his arms and sat back in his chair. "At least I can do more this time than last time…"

**XXX**

After dealing with that Bordeaux and sending an email to Helba, Kyoko wandered outside to look at the flowers in her garden. It wasn't the most impressive one out there, others in the neighborhood even being better than her own, but she enjoyed it.

It was always nice to come out at night, sit with the flowers. They were always nicer company than most people in her life. Not noisy, more understanding… Yes, she preferred flowers to people over all.

Maybe people would have more of a chance if they were like Asahi and less like that Bordeaux girl. But sadly, most people were as loud and annoying as Bordeaux, or at least leaned towards that end of the spectrum, rather than towards the Asahi end.

...She supposed she could also just be a bit picky when it came to the people she was willing to befriend, but could anyone blame her? People were often annoying and hard to deal with.

Now wasn't the time to think about that, she supposed. She stared at her flowers, letting a finger glide gently after the petal of the one closest to her. They looked healthy enough that she could start looking into planting more. Maybe some gardenias…

She let out an amused breath. "I should have bought some of those sooner, hm?"

It would be a fitting flower to plant with current events. Might have been fitting before that, actually. The World may have been more of a hobby for her than anything serious, in comparison to some of the other .hackers, but it was an important part of her life.

Well, that settled it. She would buy some gardenias next time she went shopping for gardening supplies. She was sure they'd look nice on the left side…

**XXX**

Natsume was still waiting for Alkaid to email her back. She'd sent all the questions Helba had told them to ask, tweaked to fit her own writing to make sure Alkaid didn't think something was up, and now? Now she'd been sitting here for an hour or two with no reply yet.

"I hope the questions didn't strike a nerve too much…" She knew Alkaid had seemed really upset thinking about things, and she'd hate to make that worse.

After all, she didn't know exactly how long ago Alkaid had woken up. It could be a month ago or a week ago… Either way, the wound from it was sure to be pretty fresh still.

She finally decided to step away for a little bit. She couldn't sit here worrying about it forever, after all. Alkaid would get to her when she got to her, right? Besides, others might still be asking questions too…

Looking out the window, she let out a sigh. She hadn't been able to make it to the library today thanks to this… That was too bad. But, that was okay…! She was one of the .hackers, it was only right she helped deal with the Cursed Wave if it was back…!

She'd already missed out on helping Haseo and his friends with Cubia, after all. The less she missed out on things like that, the better! Especially if she could help Asahi directly…

Her cheeks flushed red before she shook thoughts of Asahi out of her head. It was nice to be working with him again, but she needed to stay focused! She couldn't help him if her heart was all aflutter… Besides, focusing on that when she had no clue if he felt the same could lead to some heartache…

After walking around her house in circles, cooling down her head a bit, she went back to her computer. Still nothing from Alkaid, but that was alright. She had all night, after all. And if she didn't hear before bed, she could send a small email making sure the other one actually got through to her.

For now… She opened the local library's web page and began browsing. She couldn't go do her usual studying today, and days like this could happen again, so she thought she might as well look into checking out a few materials.

"Let's see…" She scratched her cheek. "That book looks like it might be useful… Oh, that one's usually checked out, maybe I can reserve it for check out tomorrow…!"

Soon enough, she was lost in the web page, eyes scanning over everything. It was going to be so hard to narrow it down to two or three…

**XXX**

Ryoko took the M2D off her head and let herself smile. She felt she had gained plenty of knowledge, not only for Helba, but for herself! She was pretty sure she understood how R:2 worked, now… Though she had gotten lost trying to find Canard, when Silabus invited her to check it out and possibly become a member…

She guessed some things would never change. At least she'd only gotten lost in the Root Town! And it had seemed like Silabus had taken an interest in making sure things went well for her, so…

"Maybe this will be an advantage for us…" She tapped her chin. "Oh…! I should have included that in my email."

She opened another email to Helba and typed said information out, thinking again for a second. Was there anything else she'd forgotten to include in her first email? She guessed she could include who she'd learned was part of Canard, outside of those listed in the briefing.

Oh, but what if they didn't know anything? She didn't know when those others had joined or how involved they were with the things that could be related to the Phases… Helba most likely hadn't listed them for a reason, after all…

"I'm not sure what to do…" Maybe she should text someone from the group about it? Akira might have a clue…

She sent her a text and waited for a while, perking up when Akira finally did respond.

_**Akira: **If Helba didn't think they were important, don't worry about it!_

_**Akira: **Just stick to relaying the answers to the questions she gave us, okay?_

She typed a thank you message and looked back at her email. Maybe she shouldn't mention that Silabus had taken an interest in helping her, then? That wasn't one of the questions that had been asked about, after all.

"I guess I won't, then." She closed the window without saving the email and made her way towards her bed, exhausted. "I'll just wait until I hear from her again."


	6. Chapter 6

**It's been a while haha... Been busy with 1) personal stuff and 2) playing Link (which is really really fun so far, btw, I'm enjoying it a lot!), but this fic isn't dead yet. I still have plans for it and do wanna see it through to the end, haha!**

* * *

When Yata didn't get back to Haseo after a half hour, he decided to log in to find Azure Kite. Thanks to the incredibly shitty luck he seemed to be having, however, Azure Kite wasn't available. What the hell was an AI doing that could make him set his status to busy, anyway?! It wasn't like AIDA was still running around…

"Dammit…" He scrolled this his members list. Everyone was offline or busy, so maybe he should just log off and wait-

"Koh…" A grunt pulled Haseo out of his thoughts as Azure Balmung approached him, Azure Orca following right behind.

"Guh…" Azure Orca came to a stop next to him, while Azure Balmung stood right in front of him. "Invite…"

"What…?" Haseo furrowed his brow. "What do you want?"

"Invite us…" Azure Balmung's voice was less scratchy than Azure Kite's, thanks to the fact he seemed to take to using actual words much faster than their leader had, but it still sounded pained and out of use half the time. "And follow…"

"What?" Haseo frowned, but clicked on their names on the members list. "Where are we going?"

"Hulle Granz Cathedral…" Azure Orca's voice was somewhere between the other two's in terms of roughness, though Haseo couldn't help but feel it might just be the basis for his voice in comparison to Azure Balmung. "Come…"

He nodded, confused beyond belief. "Hey, by the way, do you guys know what's going on with that hacker that Azure Kite told me about?"

The frown on Azure Balmung's face deepened as they approached the Chaos Gate. "Azure Kite… You…"

"See what's happening…" Azure Orca took over speaking as Azure Balmung trailed off. "Hurry…"

Haseo didn't get it, but he entered the bookmark into the Chaos Gate and soon enough they were standing in front of the Cathedral. Haseo swallowed hard, glancing back at the two Azure Knights with him. When they simply urged him forward, he made for the door.

He didn't know what to expect inside. They were being so vague, the most he had to go off of being that it seemed Azure Kite was doing something and they wanted him to see what it was…

He reminded himself, quietly, that it was fine. He could trust these guys, right? Aura had given him their member addresses and they'd grown closer since then… At least, he was pretty sure they had. It was kind of hard to tell.

Taking a deep breath, Haseo pushed into the Cathedral and immediately felt betrayed.

Azure Kite and Kite stood there, seemingly about to discuss something. What the actual _hell_?! It felt like his heart was in his throat as he watched them, huddled together and speaking in whispers.

Azure Balmung placed a hand on his back and pushed him forward with a groan, no words telling him what he wanted him to do… But that was fine, because oh, Haseo knew what _he_ wanted to do.

"Azure Kite!" His voice came out in a snap and the AI swiveled his head to look at him, eyes wide like a child who'd been caught getting into the cookie jar. "What the hell are you doing?!"

"Haseo…" He didn't move from where he stood, but he twisted his hands together. "Was telling… About Skeith."

"You…" Haseo grit his teeth. "You did what?!"

**XXX**

Aina wanted so badly for her limited technology access to stop being so limited. She'd gotten a strange Flash Mail from that Pi woman, telling her to be quiet on anything involving the Phases or AIDA… But why should she do that?!

The Phases… AIDA… they were the things that had taken her brother away from her! Because of them, Masato was laying in a coma in Japan and she couldn't see him or speak to him… She couldn't know what he was doing, not anymore.

She wished she'd never been awoken from her coma, that she'd been able to stay connected to her brother. That would at least be better than being without him. Aina missed him so much…

That man, Balmung, had been asking her about them. If telling him more could be more help, she would ignore the message telling her to stay quiet! She would tell him how the Phases ripped her brother away from her, and the pain it caused her…

But she couldn't do that now. She couldn't try and find that man or tell Pi how she felt, all she could do was lie in bed and wait. Wait and think on what she would do when she was allowed to log into the game the next day…

Aina let her eyes close, a small sigh escaping her lips. She knew the nurses would be mad if they knew she was still awake. She needed to try and get some rest, they would always say. She didn't think she needed nearly as much rest as they made her get, not after being comatose for so long, but she didn't exactly get a say, now did she?

She curled into the bed, frowning. Couldn't they at least let her move around more if she had to rest so much? She needed to build up strength so she could go home, but it was so slow going…

She just wanted to know if anything would ever get better, after getting so bad.

**XXX**

Shino would have to head home soon.

She'd come to check on Masato, still sleeping away with no signs of awakening, one last time that day and visiting hours were almost over. She felt bad, but it looked like she'd be telling Aina the same thing she told her every day. No changes, and no expectations for changes anytime soon.

"I'll visit again tomorrow." Her voice was quiet as she stood up and headed for the door. "Please wake up soon… For Aina."

With that, she started down the hall. It was late… She should grab a late dinner on the way back to her apartment. It wouldn't do her any good to slack off on taking care of herself after laying in a coma so long herself.

While trying to decide where to stop off to grab a bite, her mind wandered to the events in The World that day. Someone who looked like one of the pursuers, with nearly the same name as him, too. And he came with questions Shino could easily answer…

Questions Shino almost answered before a message from that Endrance came through telling her to be quiet. Apparently answering could put all of the Epitaph Users into danger and… She couldn't risk that.

It was scary, thinking about how easily someone who seemed so nice could be working towards something so dangerous for friends… Orca had seemed like a nice enough man, after all.

"I wonder if he'd be open to hearing that the Phases aren't that bad…" She finally came to a stop in front of a convenience store, mulling over the interaction while picking up something to eat. "He seemed like he could be understanding…"

Well, that would be something to bring up with the Epitaph Users later. Wouldn't do her any good to step on toes ahead of time, after all.

**XXX**

Nina bit her thumb, anger steaming off of her. No one had been able to beat her so easily like that before (excluding Haseo of course, she noted as a reminder to herself)… That Gardenia had made a total fool of her…!

Who did she think she was? Coming up and interrupting her PKing, asking her weird questions, and letting her prey get away?! She couldn't even lay down and die when Nina had turned her sights on her!

That pissed her off… She didn't want people sticking their nose into her business like that. Haseo was at least worth chasing after getting in her way so much, Gardenia was just an annoyance…

If Nina never saw her again it would be too soon. Unless, of course, she was able to get the jump on her and show her who was boss. She wasn't in the business of leaving herself humiliated.

...Well, she would just have to hope revenge would go better this time around. At least she wouldn't end up possessed by some AIDA this time. After all, that'd just ended up being useless all things considered, Haseo had still beaten her.

"Ugh, it's unfair!" The World was supposed to be a place for her to let off steam and have some fun, and it was being ruined more and more by the day.

...If she hadn't had to move here, if her mom and dad were still together, then maybe…

She shook her head free of those thoughts as fast as possible. Thinking about her parent's divorce and everything that followed just pissed her off more. She hadn't asked for any of this, having to move to a place where kids wouldn't stop pointing out how much she stuck out among the non mixed race kids or living with just her mom in some town she hadn't really known…

She kicked at her computer before heading out of the room. She would just eat a snack and figure out what to do after this…

**XXX**

Chika was still staring at the email she needed to send to Natsume when her mother called her for dinner.

She'd planned on just answering the questions truthfully, before Endrance sent her a warning to keep things a secret. Alkaid had almost ignored it, but he made it clear it'd put Haseo and Atoli in danger and… She couldn't risk putting them in danger! They were important to her, really important!

So she'd drafted her reply at least ten times, trying to figure out how much was too much. She needed to share some, Natsume knew she was in a coma during some of the events so she couldn't act totally clueless, but how little could she get away with?

And honestly? Chika still wasn't happy with the email on the screen, there was a lot she could probably change and lie about, still… But if she left it to go eat dinner, she knew she would never actually get back to it and send it without Natsume getting suspicious or something.

So, with a deep breath, she pressed send and pulled her M2D off. "I'll be down in a minute, mom!"

Taking a second to recover her bearings, Chika pushed away from the desk. She couldn't let her parents see her distressed. If they saw that, they would definitely make her stop playing The World… She couldn't risk that! She had too much to do, still.

They'd already made her start playing less, out of fear of finding her on the ground again, unresponsive. She couldn't exactly blame them, but The World was important to her. She was willing to risk playing it, no matter the danger it put her in…

"Maybe one day they'll understand…" She could hope, but she guessed that if they didn't that college was just around the corner… Chika couldalways move out and do what she wanted, then…

Though the idea of hiding things like The World from her parents left a bad feeling in her gut. She doubted anyone else would ever have to do that…

"Chika! Hurry, before food gets cold!"

Her mom's voice made her jump and she finally stood from her desk chair and headed for the door. "Coming!"

**XXX**

After helping the player with the level of a long time player and the attitude of a noob, Yuuichi realized he needed to go on his daily jog. He couldn't slack off now!

He could probably grab some things from the store while he was out, too. He was running out of dinner foods and it might be good to get some before he forgot and had to go buy things on an empty stomach…

"Alright, let's go!" He needed to be quick about it! He'd told Terajima Ryoko that she could email or message him if she needed anything else, and he'd hate to miss her if it was something important!

He'd have to make sure his headset wasn't active long enough to at least shop, after all, and who knows how long that would take!

After making sure he had everything he needed, he headed out the door, locking up his room behind him and heading down. Alright, today he would jog for forty five minutes and then head to the store for some shopping…

With a quick stretch to prepare him, he took off with a hum. He hoped things continued to be so interesting with The World.


End file.
